Prevalent Issues in Parenting. Isela Martínez-Martínez CHDV /7/11

Transcription

1 Prevalent Issues in Parenting Isela Martínez-Martínez CHDV /7/11

2 Martínez 2 Prevalent Issues in Parenting The process of parenting has received increasing attention in recent years. This paper is about three issues that emerged in an interview with a parent. The purpose of the interview was to learn more about parenting from a parent s perspective and see the problems they deal with, as well as the rewards their child(ren) bring to their lives. In this paper, three issues marital conflict, adolescent mothers, and low-socioeconomic status are discussed, and empirical research and developmental theory is examined in light of each of these issues. Marital Conflict A prevalent issue in parenting is marital conflict. The effects that marital conflicts have on children depend on the childrens perceptions and interpretations, which determine the effect that the conflicts have in their emotional and behavioral adjustment (Ablow, Measelle, Cowan & Cowan, 2009). Another aspect to take into account is the content, intensity, and frequency of the conflicts (Ablow et al., 2009). The age of children exposed to marital conflict also makes a difference in the outcomes. For example, children who are at an egocentric level of thought may not understand that their parents marital problems could have little (or nothing) to do with them (Ablow et al., 2009). Not surprisingly, it has been found that preschoolers have revealed more distress and have reported feeling more frightened than both younger (1- to 3-year-old) and older (9- to 19-year-old) children in response to anger expressed between adults (Ablow et al., 2009). Marital discord can be split in two categories, destructive and constructive. Constructive marital conflict is when parents handle disagreements in positive ways by displaying behaviors, such as verbal and physical affection, problem solving, and support (McCoy, Cummings & Davies, 2008). This type of conflict is constructive because it increases children s confidence that any difficulties between their parents will be managed maintaining family harmony and it reduces the probability of children having aggressive tendencies while enriching their development of their own problem

3 Martínez 3 solving, coping, and conflict resolution abilities (McCoy et al., 2008). The other type of conflict is considered destructive, and is characterized by hostility, anger, and aggression (Koss, George, Bergman, Cummings, Davies & Cicchetti, 2011). Children are negatively affected by exposure to the marital conflict, and there is a sizable body of literature supporting this finding (Holden, 2010). When children witness destructive marital conflict, their emotional security is disrupted (McCoy et al, 2008). Children tend to mimic part of negative behavior they see, thinking that aggressive behavior is a correct way to solve problems (Holden, 2010). In addition, children who are exposed to negative conflict and inadequate problem-solving skills have aggressive manners; in part because of they may feel anger and lack of control, which increases their risk for externalizing disorders (McCoy et al, 2008). Destructive marital conflict can help predict children s prosocial behavior, including cooperation, sharing, empathy, and being considerate; the exposure to such events increases the difficulty that children encounter when interacting with their peers and lower social competence (McCoy et al, 2008). In other words, destructive marital conflict plays a big role on children s social functioning skills. Adolescent Mothers Another pervasive issue that society is facing is the increase in adolescent women becoming parents. According to the Guttmacher Institute, each year in the US, about 750, to 19 year-old females become pregnant (Holden, 2010), making the United States one of the countries with the highest rates of pregnancy and births for adolescent mothers among industrialized countries (Birkeland, Thompson, & Phares, 2005).What is also surprising is that most of those pregnancies (82%) are unintended; and even though nowadays adolescent mothers are more likely to keep their babies than in the past (Holden, 2010), that does not reduce the problems that these babies or the mothers themselves often face. Among the factors contributing to adolescent pregnancies are living in poor neighborhoods, experiencing academic problems or failure, not using contraceptives, and having few or no aspiration for the future (Holden, 2010).

4 Martínez 4 Similar to adult women, teenage girls also struggle during and after pregnancy. However, adolescent mothers are twice as likely as adult mothers to be depressed, which puts them at greater risk for depression in adulthood (Slomski-Long, 2009). And even though most people have an idea of how difficult it can be to become a parent, adolescent mothers tend to have unrealistic thoughts about how easy it is to be one (Holden, 2010). However, teenage mothers can be competent caregivers who are as responsive as older mothers are and some have even demonstrated that they can discipline reasonably; still, some researchers have found that adolescent mothers are less likely to talk to and cognitively stimulate their infants (Holden, 2010). In addition to depression, there are other problems that adolescent mothers encounter, like more limited educational and employment skills, lack of financial resources, high stress, and more family discord compared to mature mothers (Slomski- Long, 2009). Adolescent mothers also tend to complete 1.9 to 2.2 fewer years of schooling than women who first gave birth after age 30, and women who give birth as adolescents are more likely to become welfare dependent (Boden, Fergusson & Horwood, 2008). An essential part of parenting a newborn includes knowing how and when to feed an infant and in which position to put him or her to sleep, information many adolescent mothers may not have. Many new mothers, especially teens, are poorly informed regarding normal newborn care (feeding position or schedule, sleeping position of the baby and under or overdressing of the baby) and safety upon hospital discharge (Cardaci, 2011). Younger mothers are also less knowledgeable about parenting as well as the developmental milestones of children; they also express less desirable childrearing attitudes compared to older mothers (Slomski-Long, 2009). In part because of the young mothers ignorance about the developmental milestones of their babies, children of adolescent mothers face more problems at school later in life, such as grade repetition and truancy, and experience more externalizing behavior problems than other children (Holden, 2010). This could also explain why the most commonly found differences between children of teen mothers and those of older mothers are differences in cognitive functioning and psychosocial problems, such as behavior

5 Martínez 5 and attachment problems (Holden, 2010). As difficult as parenting is, one of the things that perhaps reduces how much difficulty parents experience is how confident they are in being parents. However, developing confidence is also a difference and stressful situation that adolescent mothers encounter (Birkeland, Thompson, & Phares, 2005). Additionally, young mothers often report being criticized about their parenting skills and receiving unwanted advice on how to raise their children (Slomski-Long, 2009). Low Socioeconomic-Status Finally, another issue in parenting that emerged from the interview is low Socioeconomic Status (SES) and its effects on both the parents and the children. For the most part, SES is determined by the father s (or mother s and father s) occupation and education (Holden, 2010). There have been several studies that have contrasted parents of lower and middle-ses on a range of behavioral variables, including warmth, breastfeeding habits, toilet training practices, and disciplinary techniques, and a great number of them have found that parents from a lower-ses background are more likely to use physical punishment in comparison to middle class parents, who use non coercive discipline methods, such as reasoning or guilt (Holden, 2010). Additionally, parents from higher social classes have jobs where responsibility, selfdirection, initiative, and independence are valued and rewarded, whereas parents from a lower-ses who have little freedom or responsibility in their jobs are more likely to value conformity to external authority (Holden, 2010). One disturbing fact about low-ses is that it is a predictor of neglect 51% of reports of neglect concern single-parent, mother-headed homes, and 42% of the women are unemployed (Holden, 2010, p. 296). SES, along with other factors such as the child s age, is also closely linked to early sexual activity and weapon-related violence in teenagers. Twenty percent of 7 th and 8 th grade graders from a low SES sample reported in engaging in sexual intercourse, in contrast to 8% of their middle-ses peers. During high school, that SES difference was still apparent,

6 Martínez 6 with more than 50% of the low SES students reporting being sexually active. In contrast, about 40% of the youth from middle-class background reported engaging in sexual activity (Holden, 2010). Low-income families are confronted with major life stresses and daily hassles varying in intensity and controllability, which makes their strategies fluctuate more than has been reported in middle-class families (Shumow, Vandell & Posner, 1998). There is some evidence that low-income urban parents are harsher than parents from the middle-class when it comes to child rearing (Shumow et al, The effects of the issues discussed in this paper in terms of child-rearing can be further understood using the framework of Urie Bronfenbenner s Bioecological Systems Theory, which shows how a child s biological characteristics interact with multiple levels of a natural environment, with the innermost environmental context being the microsystem (Holden, 2010). The microsystem refers to the settings that a person encounters along with the interactions and activities within those settings (i.e. home, school, work, etc.). This is helpful when trying to understand why children exposed to destructive marital conflict tend to be more aggressive, have inadequate problem-solving skills, and lower social competence (McCoy et al, 2008). Given that children are in a home (or microsystem) environment characterized by hostility, anger, and aggression (Koss et al, 2011), Bronfenbenner s theory explains that it is this kind of negative environment would elicit anger and aggression in a child. Bronfenbenner s Bioecological Systems Theory also illustrates the connection (called the mesosystem) between microsystems such as the home and the school. For instance, children who see aggressive behavior in their parents (whether or not related to marital conflict) are very likely to display aggressive behavior themselves, which can cause problems at school, given that those are the children that usually refuse to share and are aggressive (McCoy et al, 2008). Several of the problems that adolescent mothers face are also explained by Bronfenbenner s theory and at the level of the exosystem, which refers to contexts that typically do not involve

7 Martínez 7 children but still affect their development (Holden, 2010). The exosystem includes the parents work, neighborhood, stress, as well as social support (Holden, 2010). As discussed earlier, adolescent mothers tend to have more limited educational and employment skills, lack financial resources, and have more family discord (exosystems that do not ordinarily contain the child) (Slomski-Long, 2009); however, all of those issues indirectly affect the child. In conclusion, three important issues in parenting have been discussed marital conflict, adolescent mothers, and low-ses families. Parents are encouraged to limit exposure to destructive conflict, and to instead expose children to more constructive marital conflict, since research shows that this type of conflict reduces the probability of children having aggressive tendencies while enriching their development of their own problem solving, coping, and conflict resolution abilities (McCoy et al, 2008). Some advice for young mothers would be to seek support groups (i.e. at church, the community, friends, and family) while pregnant and after giving birth, and to seek help about caring for infants adequately (feeding, changing diapers, or sleeping position). Low-SES parents may want to consider their discipline methods and remember that research has continuously shown that physical punishment does not necessarily lead to positive outcomes in children. Alternatives for physical punishment can be talking to children, listening to what the children want and why, or using reasoning with them or other more effective strategies.

8 Martínez 8 References Ablow, J. C., Measelle, J. R., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (2009). Linking marital conflict and children's adjustment: The role of young children's perceptions. Journal of Family Psychology, 23(4), doi: /a Birkeland, R., Thompson, J. K., & Phares, V. (2005). Adolescent motherhood and postpartum depression. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34(2), Boden, J. M., Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (2008). Early motherhood and subsequent life outcomes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(2), doi: /j x Cardaci, R. (2011). A case study of teen parenting. International Journal of Nursing Terminologies and Classifications, 22(1), doi: /j X x Holden, G. W. (2010). Parenting: A dynamic perspective. California: SAGE. Koss, K. J., George, M. R. W., Bergman, K. N., Cummings, E. M., Davies, P. T., & Cicchetti, D. (2011). Understanding children's emotional processes and behavioral strategies in the context of marital conflict. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 109(3), doi: /j.jecp McCoy, K., Cummings, M. E., & Davies, P. T. (2009). Constructive and destructive marital conflict, emotional security and children's prosocial behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(3), doi: /j x Shumow, L., Vandell, D. L., & Posner, J. K. (1998). Harsh, firm, and permissive parenting in low-income families: Relations to children's academic achievement and behavioral adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 19(5), doi: /

9 Martínez 9 Slomski-Long, M. (2009). Disorganized attachment relationships in infants of adolescent mothers and factors that may augment positive outcomes. Adolescence, 44(175),